Virgil Abloh's Off-White Label Furthers the "Black Nerd Agenda"

Virgil Abloh is more known as one of Kanye West’s cohorts and one of the guys behind the Internet inside joke/collective/superbly successful clothing line #BEEN #TRILL. If you’re woefully unaware, just ask the nearest teenager to show you his or her Tumblr dashboard. Abloh’s also known for his PYREX Vision line, cheap wholesale off white hoodie which caught criticism for its high prices juxtaposed with product that simply consisted of screenprinted third-party items like Champion T-shirts, hoodies, and most infamously, repurposed flannels from Rugby Ralph Lauren during the clothing brand’s final throes. But before all that, he was a brilliant, super nerdy blogger.

The term "brilliant" isn’t used loosely here, Abloh wrote on the cult blog THE BRILLIANCE!, which melded simple design with sharp, snarky writing. He was gushing about German chef knives long before menswear was a Tumblr hashtag. As such, Abloh’s nerd cred is undeniable. It harkens back to Donald Glover’s bit about "black nerds," which he defines as people who like "strange, specific stuff." That brings us to his newest fashion endeavor, Off-White, which made its debut on style.com earlier today.